The Haunting
by Lilith'sDiary
Summary: A night which was supposed to be fun for Bella and her friends quickly turns into a nightmare and soon Bella discovers that more than just werewolves and vampires go bump in the night. Bella/Aro AU -ON HOLD, BUT WILL BE COMPLETED-


**Disclaimer: The Twilight saga and all its characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.**

**A/N: Please excuse my grammar as English is not my first language. And feel free to point out mistakes for me, or offer advice on how to improve – it would be greatly appreciated.**

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"I don't like this one bit" whispered Ang with a bit of a waver in her voice as her, Jess and myself stalked as quietly as possible through the dark and eerie hallways of the old and abandoned Milburn mansion situated on the outskirts of Forks.

I myself was a little unsure of this whole idea. We were to meet Ty, Mike and Eric inside the Milburn mansion at exactly 11pm – so far we've not heard them anywhere inside or outside the great house nor have we seen any indication that they are actually here.

The large house had been abandoned for decades. In 1957 four members of the Milburn family were found dead by police inside their bedrooms while the youngest son – Elmer – was found lying in a pool of his own blood, his torso facing the ground as his right arm laid outstretched towards the back door. The rest of his family; his two older sisters and parents were still within their beds, blood staining almost every surface of their rooms, the bodies themselves were an almost unrecognizable mangled mess of flesh, bone and blood – it was one of the most horrific recorded murders ever to have taken place in the U.S.

From then on it was known as the Milburn-Forks Massacre. Just who had killed them remained a mystery. No clues were ever found at the murder scene, no motives for the murders ever uncased. It was a case which confounded law enforcement for decades until it simply became a cold case forgotten inside a cardboard box in the back of Forks' police department.

And now my stupid friends and I were traipsing inside the very house where that terrible scene took place. All for shits and giggles with a video recorder to prove to the other kids at school that we were the coolest of the cool – as Ty and Mike put it. I mentally rolled my eyes – the need to be at the top of the social food-chain in high school would _never _end. I personally didn't much care to be labelled someone popular. I was still somewhat shy, a bit awkward, simply not one for attention and would rather spend a Friday night with my nose in a book than getting plastered at a party (which I rarely did – getting drunk I mean) or creeping through spooky old abandoned mansions.

Couple the fact that the house was the centre of a vicious massacre with the murderer/s never been found and my firsthand knowledge of the supernatural, I think it's safe to say that my heart was doing the Macarena compared to the others' waltz.

"Ugh, don't be such a drip Ang – nothing bad will happen to us" replied Jess in her usual snobbish tone as she flipped a lock of her golden-brown hair over her shoulder.

The house was cold, almost unnaturally so, and the further we walked within the seemingly never ending hallways of the massive house the more a feeling of dread crept inside of me. I could see my icy breath wafting in front of me, could feel the tiny hairs on the back of my neck standing to attention. _Get a grip Swan! _I scolded myself. I practically lived with a coven of vampires, **vampires! **for nearly a being stalked and attacked by one and still making it through alive and untraumatised and here I am in an old dusty house and I'm nearly crapping myself. I internally sighed with exasperation for myself before directing my torch into every nook and cranny of the home hoping to hell that no monster would jump out from the shadows and turn us into meals.

The old wooden floors creaked under our weight effectively causing the three of us to jump every time a particularly loud groan would echo out from under our feet. Furniture was draped in dusty old sheets which were white once upon a time, but were now just pieces of thin material, moth eaten and yellowed. The dark patterned emerald green wallpaper was hanging in shreds due to time-decay while paintings of landscapes, flowers and even what I'm assuming was the deceased family still hung on the walls. The eyes of the children and parents seemed to follow our every movement and all I could chant in my head over and over again was how stupid this whole thing was.

The wooden steps of the staircase groaned and creaked even louder than the floorboards as we made our way up to the third level of the mansion.

"Ty?" I called out trying to keep my voice low for silly reasons, as if I were afraid _something _other than the boys would hear me.

"They're probably just running late – it's only 11:13 – and you know those three, if they say 11 they actually mean 11:30" commented Jess as she glanced at her Blackberry's clock.

As my sneaker covered foot landed on the third last step from the top of the third level a sound down the awfully dark corridor to the left made my breath hitch and my eyes grow large as they attempted to see into the dark in vain.

"Did you hear that?" asked Ang quickly actually taking a step back down the stairs.

"Yes" I replied in a whisper, my torch flicking this way and that down the hallway but seeing nothing out of the ordinary.

Jess sighed dramatically before pushing past us and taking slow steps down the hall. "It's probably just rats, you two are such babies"

Ang and I shared a wary glance before following after our fearless leader. I had enough experience in the oddities of life to know that there really _are _things that go bump in the night. And exploring dark, abandoned buildings was just asking for trouble. I still couldn't believe I agreed to this. If this was the coolest and most fun thing to do in Forks then this just solidified that Forks really was the ass-end of everything.

All three of us spun to the left where scratching noises sounded, as if nails were being raked down a door. We stood facing a smaller corridor bathed in darkness like everything else around here. The noise suddenly stopped and we all let out a breath we didn't realise we were holding.

Jess shook her head slightly and shot us a look. "Like I said; rats. God you two, honestly" her voice though, I noticed wasn't as strong in conviction as it was earlier.

Further down the hall we saw light coming out from underneath a door – a warm yellow light to be exact. We also heard what sounded like a radio coming from the same room.

"See? Nothing to worry about, the boys are most likely in there and didn't hear us because of the radio" Jess flung a lock of hair over her shoulder again before sauntering off to the room.

Jess turned the rusty brass knob of the door and gently pushed it open, the wood creaking eerily as it did so. The light in the ceiling was actually working, which meant the house still had electricity – odd. The ceiling light however was nothing more than a light bulb hanging from a thick black cord. Some of the sheets were pulled off of a brown sofa and two matching arm chairs – this was most likely an entertainment room as an old 50's tv stood on a stand near the window on the far side of the room, and the old radio was stood on the coffee table surrounded by the sofa and chairs. There were also two baskets with dusty children's toys occupying them – that part really made me uneasy.

"They were obviously here, look" I said pointing towards what I knew to be the boys' sleeping and duffel bags.

Jess flung her bags alongside the others before plonking down atop one of the arm chairs, dust rising and enveloping her much to Ang's and my amusement. "They're probably just exploring the house - I mean this place is _huge_"

Ang nodded and proceeded to place her things down with the others' as well before taking a seat on the sofa and being swept up in a conversation with Jess about how great Mike was. I could almost feel Ang rolling her eyes and sighing. And yes, Mike and Jess finally got their shit together and began dating. About damn time I say – I was getting sick of witnessing their sidelong glances towards one another, the looks of longing as one of them said goodbye, the jealousy which radiated out of them when someone dared to flirt with either Jess or Mike.

I sighed as I stared into the inky black night outside of the window. I suppose I should've been the very last person to mock Mike and Jess about their romance, as everyone had pointed out more than once that Edward and I were exactly the same. More so in fact with Edward always hovering around me and always giving me a kiss atop my head or on my forehead. Thinking back on that now, yeah, it was kind of sappy.

I often wondered where the Cullens were, what they were doing, were they happy, was Edward doing alright, did they miss me? I let out a gruff sigh, I'm sure they thought of me, but if they truly cared about me to the extent that they let on, then they wouldn't have just slinked away like thieves in the night. And Edward was an absolute jerk for dumping me in the middle of the woods – I mean really – what the hell was wrong with breaking up with me in my bedroom, his bedroom, my lounge, hell even the diner. But the woods?

But what's done is done, what was said was said. I can't change the past and Edward and I simply were not to be. He left me knowing a dangerous secret however and I can only hope that it doesn't come back to bite me in the ass.

"Bella!"

I turned to face Jess who was looking at me with light annoyance. A look I was used to from her and a lot of people as I tended to easily fall into memory or thought blocking out the world around me. "Sorry, yes?"

"We can't wait for them forever, get your camcorder out and let's do some exploring of our own"

I nodded and walked over to my khaki messenger bag where I pulled out my black Samsung Switch Grip 2.0 camcorder that I had won when I entered some random competition in a magazine. I flipped it open, switched it on and started recording Jess and Ang who stood side by side.

"Hey guys and girls – I'm Jess as you all know and next to me is…" Jess motioned for Ang who looked a little shy in front of the camcorder to state her name.

"Ang" who in turn meekly waved at the lens before I turned the cam around to face me before smiling "and I'm Bella"

I let the cam go over the room a bit which still looked creepy even with the lights on, probably due to the house's history. I paused at the toy baskets, letting the cam take in the spooky sight which still freaked me out before turning back to Jess and Ang.

"We're here to spend the night in Milburn mansion to prove that ghost stories are that – just ghost stories. A lot of you have bet against us, believing we'll all be running out of here before sunrise—"

"Sorry _Lauren_" I sneered into the cam as I quickly turned it towards myself. "I guess you'll soon be kissing that 100 bucks goodbye" God I hated that cow.

"Uh, thanks Bella" mumbled Jess, irritated that I stole her spotlight for a second.

"Anyway, so follow us while we explore the very scene of the Milburn-Forks Massacre and we hope you'll enjoy the tour" Jess flicked that confounded piece of hair over her shoulder again as her and Ang made for the door with me following behind them recording every aspect of the house I could.

"God I can't wait for this to be put up on YouTube!" squealed Jess with near sickening excitement.

I didn't know if it were just me but the house seemed to become colder and colder the further we walked down the main passage. Little noises here and there would make us jump from time to time – rats of course. We finally reached the main wing where the bedrooms of the family were and I felt a heavy, sinking feeling in my stomach. Everything in me was telling me to get the fuck out of dodge but as usual, I, the girl with no self preservation trailed on after my friends.

The only thing lacking this situation was scary background music. Jess swung open the first door and flicked on the light switch near the entrance. The room had light brown tartan wallpaper which like in the rest of the house was peeling from the walls. A single wooden bed which was still covered in royal-blue and red bedding stood under the boarded window. Wooden toy cars and little soldiers were neatly laid out on top of an oak dresser with a baseball bat leaning against it.

"This must be the little boy – Elmer's room" I spoke while we looked around the room of someone whose life was cut too short all those years ago - someone whose life was cut too short just two stories below us.

We exited the room and called out for the boys again, but like before, no reply. But still we pressed on to the second room. This one had pastel mint-green wallpaper patterned with pink roses. A wooden bunk bed stood alongside a large wardrobe - the bedding gone, even the mattresses. I immediately envisioned bloody sheets, soaked right down to the mattresses. I grimaced at the thought and absentmindedly listened to Jess rambling on about how chic and hot her bedroom is. A variety of porcelain dolls sat along the dresser in a neat row – I couldn't understand how anybody liked those things. Sure the clothes they dressed the dolls in were pretty but the dolls themselves? Creepy.

Suddenly a door slammed shut loudly from somewhere in the house. All three of us screamed and jumped ten feet in the air. My heart was pounding in my chest like it was about to explode, as I'm sure theirs was as well.

"What was that?!" whisper-yelled Ang to us, her eyes behind her glasses as large as saucers.

"Rats I suppose?" I replied sarcastically, my answer directed at Jess. I really hoped it was the boys who had finished their exploration of that part of the house.

Jess narrowed her dark ocean-blue eyes a little at me before we left the room, in a much more slow and timid fashion than before. The kids at school better appreciate what we did here tonight, I'm not straining my heart here for nothing. We came to a stop at the room at the very end of the hallway – the parents' room no doubt.

Taking a deep breath Jess quietly and slowly opened the door – and much to our dismay as Jess flicked on the switch the light flickered on for a moment before flickering out until it eventually died. The room smelled musty and stuffy. The old burgundy curtains were drawn closed, the black iron frame of the double bed stood alone in the centre of the large bedroom. The large mirror of the cherry-wood vanity looked like it had been smashed in, the left side door of the white painted closet was hanging on by a thread and two of the iron legs of the bed frame were broken causing the bed to slant towards the front of it – just what had happened here all those years ago?

Aside from the musty smell, the room smelled of death, it even felt like death. Knowing people were savagely murdered just a few feet away from you was not something to be taken lightly. While Jess and Ang looked around the room and the en-suite bathroom I noticed a ways off into a little nook in the bedroom, shielded by a wall was a ladder leading up to the attic. The ladder was pulled down and the attic door open. With my camcorder still rolling and my small torch in the other hand I walked up to the attic ladder, holding my camcorder and torch up into the black hole trying to see into the room.

As I stood peering into the darkness I felt a bit of moisture fall onto my cheek. I popped my little torch into my mouth, took my index finger and wiped it across the liquid. I brought my finger towards the blue-white light of my torch and stared at the ruby-red liquid smeared onto my finger before bringing it to my nose and taking a sniff at it – salty, rusty, metallic – blood. My heart felt as though it stopped beating for a moment before hammering wildly within my chest, my breath hitched and I suddenly felt an onslaught of nausea from that horrible scent which belongs to blood.

And then like a foolhardy actress in a horror flick I started climbing up the ladder ever so slowly, my brow drenched in sweat from fear but I just _had _to see where the blood was coming from - morbid curiosity no doubt. I should've run, I should've screamed but instead I just kept climbing carefully with torch and camcorder still in hand.

My head and shoulders entered the attic, my face chilled by the extremely cold temperature – extremely unnatural cold temperature. I half worried that my head would be lopped off from its shoulders any second now, but all I was concerned about was the blood and where it was coming from. What did I tell you earlier about my lack of self-preservation? Well this right here is a shining example of it.

The light from my camcorder and torch scoured the attic which was filled with junk and dust and more yellowed sheets covering items. As I turned my head to the left I came face to face with Mike. Dead. His face peered at me in the darkness, his eyes missing from their sockets leaving two hollows of bloody flesh, his jaw completely missing from his face – nothing left except a few strings and tendrils of flesh. I stared at his corpse in silent horror, my mouth opened into a perfect 'o'. I couldn't think, couldn't speak, couldn't scream and couldn't move. I had never seen something so utterly gruesome in my life before. My eyes managed to tear away from the grotesque sight of Mike to behind him where Ty and Eric lay flat on their stomachs, blood pooled around their bodies.

Suddenly my brain decided to kick into first gear as I let out a banshee-like screech, dropping my camcorder and torch to the wooden floor below as I scrambled to get down but lost my footing on the ladder steps and tumbled to the ground hitting my head against the wall. Jess and Ang came running out of the large bathroom towards me when the door to the bedroom slammed shut and the room actually began to shake and become darker if that were even possible – though aside from seeing the unnatural darkness, I could actually feel it as well, encompassing the house, encompassing this room.

Both Jess and Ang were flung apart from each other by an invisible force, Ang's head smacking against the mirror of the vanity with a sickening crunch, blood from her head trickling down the mirror as she slumped to the ground. I tried to get up and reach her but froze when she suddenly levitated and dangled in the air like a ragdoll before her body surged forward face first back into the mirror – again and again, over and over. The sounds of bone cracking and flesh splattering caused the lasagne I had for dinner to surface and make its presence known to the world. Ang dropped to the ground onto her back in a crumpled heap, her face was nothing but a gaping maw of caved-in flesh and blood.

I screamed again and ran towards the door, vomit and spit still dangling from my chin. I held onto the knob with both hands and frantically tried to get it open but it wouldn't budge. I flung my head around when I heard what sounded like someone having the fuck choked out of them only to find Jess, her back against the wall, her body a few feet up into the air being strangled by _something_. But I couldn't see what or who it was, it was simply too dark. The only thought racing through my head was 'run run run'. The door suddenly flew open from its hinges and I could _feel _something creeping closer towards me. With a shriek I bolted from the room as fast as I could, weaving through corridors and passages before finally tripping over the carpet just before the staircase causing me to take a tumble down a flight of stairs.

The adrenaline pumping through my veins let me jump up right away with a few groans from possible bruised ribs. I felt a warm gushing of liquid coming out of my nose as I bolted down the rest of the staircase. I didn't dwell on the pain coming from my body or the ache in my nose, I just kept running and running like my ass was on fire until I nearly broke through the front door of the house and to my truck.

I had never been so pleased to see my beat up old truck as I ripped open the driver's door and slammed it shut, frantically rummaging through my pockets for the keys when I froze, suddenly realizing I dumped the keys into my messenger bag when we first got here – my messenger bag which was in the entertainment room on the third floor of the house.

"Shit shit shit" I sprung out of my truck and ran down the long driveway, the tall trees looming over the gravel road on either side of it making it darker than it was. _I have to get home, I have to get to Charlie!_

And that is what I did. Not once did I look back. I felt like a coward leaving Ang and Jess to die so horribly, but I knew there was nothing I could do for them. By the time I got home which was probably two hours later my lungs felt like they were on fire and my legs felt like jelly. I banged on the front door of my house, not registering that the spare key was under the welcome mat. I was simply in too much of a state to assemble any form of clear thought at that point. The lights to the house flickered on as I screamed for Charlie to open up.

The door swung open to reveal a very panicked looking Charlie in his grey night robe.

"Bella!?"

I jumped at Charlie my arms flinging around his neck when he hooked his arms underneath my knees and picked me up, closing the door behind him and taking me inside.

"Dad!" I yelled frantically, desperately trying to get the words out of what happened tonight when I felt the air in the house grow unnaturally cold like at the hell-house. _No no no no no no!_

The lights in the lounge flickered as Charlie placed me on the sofa. And suddenly the house started shaking as it did in Milburn mansion. I jumped up attempting to reach Charlie but tripped over thin air again and hit my head on the coffee table and fell to the ground. I was vaguely aware of shouts, yells, my name being called before I heard a scream. I couldn't think, everything sounded so far away. My vision began to swim, my head pounded painfully and finally I succumbed to the darkness.


End file.
